Hey all,
Just got my A350 set up, but I’m having issues with the first layer not sticking well. I’m using the default settings for PLA. Any tips?
Appreciate the help!
Welcome to the community!
Cleaning the build sheet is a necessary task to get good adhesion. I do this with isopropyl alcohol before every print to get rid of grease and dust.
I let the build plate preheat and expand before printing big models.
My settings for PLA are 190-200°C and 60°C Bed at a maximum speed of 30mm/s.
For advanced materials I add glue stick or painters tape.
Be sure you let the enclosure closed, if not this could cause warping and this could ruin your print.
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For difficult sticking issues I’ve found hair spray works very well. Some of the older brands. Just be sure to clean the bed occasionally.
PLA should not have issues sticking - in fact once you have it dialed in, your problem will be that it sticks to well and can be really hard to get your part off the build plate! So hang in there.
And fwiw - I had the exact same issue w/ PLA on my A350 when I started out! Here are some things to consider - one or more of these is almost certain to fix your problem.
- Build plate. Yes, cleaning it is important, but a simply splash a small amount of IPA on it and wipe and it is good to go. I do not think there is any reason to have to treat the build plate (hairspray, etct) for PLA.
- Build plate temperature. Default settings should work. As I recall the defaults for PLA are 70C for initial layer and then 50C. Note: to see the “Initial Printing Temperature” you wil have to select “Advanced” in the material settings dialog. I find that PLA sticks so well with this setup, that for smaller parts I use 50C for all layers, just so I can remove the part easier. But larger parts (larger than say 4" diameter) I get some lift-off at edges w/ that, so then I use the 70C/50C. Since you are starting from “not sticking”, I’d suggest checking to be sure that your setup is using the 70C initial layer, then 50C for rest of the build.
- z-height calibration. This is mos likely cause, and was the thing that I eventually figured out was causing my problems with PLA sticking. Re-do the calibration and dare yourself to go a few 0.1’s of a mm lower than you think it should be. My bet is on this.
----------------- less likely causes follow -------------- - Unless you have tweaked the defaults, this should be ok, but … under the PLA material settings (again in "Advanced’), go to “Heating and Cooling” and find the Fan Speed section. There is a setting for the fan speed for the first layer, which should be lower than for the rest of the build. Default for this is 2, just check and adjust if needed. This keeps the PLA from cooling, and solidifying, too quickly.
- Bed leveling. If you’ve run the bed leveling it should be fine. You can always run it again to be sure.
- If none of that is working, you made need to check your e-steps calibration. That sounds technical and nerdy - it isn’t really. e-steps is a number, stored in the controller’s settings, that says how many “steps” of the extruder motor (it is a "stepper motor) are required to extrude 1mm of filament. This is different for every extruder, and has to be calibrated. If it is off, then your extruder is pushing out too much, or too little, filament. Too little could potentially cause an adhesion issue. Sometimes the calibration from the factory is off - not uncommon. Calibration is straight forward and if you think you need to do this, just ask on the forum and you’ll get help.
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I had very similar problems with my first print and the reason was the z-height (I was too cautious when lowering the head).
(Height-)calibration is a procedure, which seems to be useful, whenever you switch-on the machine…